washburnreview.org January 28 2015 Campus Life 76 Campus Life January 28, 2015
Megan Dortch, megan.
[email protected], is a
senior mass media major
WSGA ofers Safe Ride program for Washburn students There are many differing per-
ceptions of the Safe Ride pro-
gram provided by Washburn
University. The Washburn Stu-
dent Government Association
funds Safe Ride with money
from student activity fees. Be-
cause of this, only those cur-
rently enrolled at Washburn and
attending classes on the main
campus are eligible to use the
service.
Information about the Safe
Ride program is not well-known
to some Washburn students.
Many students aren’t even know
that the program exists or what
the guidelines and parameters
are for accessing the service.
“I’ve heard of Safe Ride, but
not much. I don’t even know the
number,” said Danielle Brown,
senior mass media major. “It’s
a good idea but not well imple-
mented. I’ve never even heard
of anyone that’s actually used
it.”
Since the program started,
faculty has been working to
spread the word. Thus far, stu-
dents have been receptive to
idea.
“I heard about it in WU 101.
I think it’s a good thing to have
because people in college are
going to drink, and I’m glad
WU can recognize that,” said
Madison Wambsganss, soph-
omore mass media major. “It’s
a good thing to have a service
like that to help people. It brings
awareness to drunk driving and
it’s a way to encourage students
to get a taxi instead of driving
themselves while intoxicated.”
Safe Ride is a taxi service
that will pick up a student and
passengers from any Topeka
area drinking establishment be-
tween the hours of 11 p.m. and 2
a.m. Safe Ride is a free service,
but does charge a $5 ‘no show’
fee if a student calls and doesn’t
accept the ride.
To use the service, students
must provide their Washburn ID
number and destination when
calling for a pick up. The taxi
driver will check the WU ID
number when the student enters
the cab to make sure that the
Have you heard of Safe Ride? What’s your opinion?
“I’ve heard a little bit about Safe Ride. I don’t think it’s being utilized by all students probably because many students are misinformed about how to access the program or because they simply don’t know the program exists.”-Murray Heikes, junior psychology major
“I don’t know much about Safe Ride. None of my friends use it, but it’s a good resource for people who do choose to use it. I think if people start knowing more about it it may get used more than it is now.” -Emma Jordan, senior human services major
Photo credit FreeImages.com
Topeka taxis utilized by the Safe Ride program are available for call and pick up from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. They will pick passengers up
from any drinking establishment and travel to one destination despite how many passengers are in the car. The service is paid for by
the student activity fee which every student enrolled at Washburn is expected to pay.
Safe Ride Phone number:(785)-267-3777
Hours of operation:
11 p.m. to 2 a.m.For more information visit: www.washburn.edu/current-students/wsga/student-services.html
NE
AR
LY
11,000 people die
in DUI-related accidents
EVERY YEAR
2100 children die in traffic accidents each year
STATISTICS
97%of those people killed due to drunk driving were UNDER THE AGE OF 21
10,378 people were arrested in Kansas for DUI
24%Female
76%Male
DWI arrests
Sources: CDC, Drinkinganddriving.org,
FSSRD
student is currently enrolled.
Only one person in the taxi
must present a valid Washburn
ID. This student may bring any
number of passengers with them
or up to the amount that the taxi
can seat. Safe Ride will not pick
up students and other passen-
gers from any residential area,
as pick-ups are limited to drink-
ing establishments only. Safe
Ride will also not drop students
or passengers off at drinking,
business, eating establishments
after pick up. They will only
drop off the passengers at one
residential area per taxi. The
drivers will not report any in-
stances of underage drinking to
Topeka or campus police.
“I have heard about it. I think
it’s a good and safe option,” said
senior psychology major Hay-
ley Harris. “The hard thing is
that a lot of people don’t seem to
know about it or if they do know
about it, when they are drinking
they don’t think about it. Then
if they drove, they don’t want
to leave their car at a bar over
night.”
As Topeka police continue
to increase saturation patrols
and sobriety checkpoints to
combat drunk driving, and alco-
hol-related accidents continue
to rise, a service like Safe Ride
becomes integral to student and
community safety.
“WSGA provides this service
because we value the safety of
our students and community
members,” White said. “We
know that drunk, buzzed or oth-
erwise impaired driving pres-
ents serious dangers to everyone
on the road. Hopefully, this pro-
gram can help prevent students
from making life-altering poor
decisions.”
Megan DortchWASHBURN REVIEW
STATISTICS
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that alcohol use is
widespread among college students. The NIAAA reports that 4 out of 5 students be-
tween the ages of 18 and 24 consume alcohol regularly with more than half of those
students consuming alcohol through “binge drinking.”
Photo by Ryan Ogle
Photo by Ryan Ogle
